Nikon Acquires RED to Expand into Cinema Camera Market

Nikon, the famous Japanese imaging company, plans to acquire RED Digital Cinema, a major manufacturer of cinema-grade cameras such as the Red V-Raptor and Komodo. In this acquisition, RED becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon.

For those unfamiliar, RED film cameras have consistently played a significant role in Hollywood production. They have garnered a devoted fan base among leading directors and cinematographers worldwide for their image quality, patented RAW compression technology and other notable features.

“This agreement was reached as a result of Nikon and RED’s shared desire to meet customer needs and deliver exceptional user experiences that exceed expectations, combining the strengths of both companies,” Nikon said Thursday.

Nikon further notes that Nikon’s “product development expertise, exceptional reliability and know-how in image processing, optical technology and user interface” and RED’s “unique image compression technology and color science” make it possible. develops unique products in the film camera space.

To name a few, RED cameras have been used in the production of TV shows and movies such as Bollywood’s Tiger 3, Netflix’s “Squid Game”, “Peaky Blinders” and Marvel’s “Captain Marvel”. Additionally, some of the most famous YouTubers, including Marques Brownlee, widely known as MKBHD, who has around 18.5 million subscribers, prefer RED cameras for recording tech-related content.

This development is intriguing, especially given the shared history of the two companies. In 2022, RED filed a lawsuit against Nikon, alleging that Nikon had infringed on its compression technology by copying and implementing it in one of its professional cameras via a software update. The trial ended in 2023.

Founded in 2005 by Jim Jannard, RED.com LLC is headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, USA.